Story Time
Fixing My First Tell and Learning Another Lesson To Boot
Im proud to say the first time I played in a live casino, I immediately fixed a tell of mine. Im embarassed to say that I had the most cliche and ridiculous tell imaginable. It was a 3/6 game and I remember having 88 and flopping quads in a big multiway pot. The action got to me and I thought that I was so smart. I had devised the perfect way to get action for myself. What did I do? I SIGHED! Picked up 3 chips...and bet. I know, I know, Im was an idiot. Why didnt I just flip my hand over and show it to everybody instead. That would have been less humiliating. The guy immediately to my left said something to the effect "Whoa? Sigh? Big hand" and folded. Everybody else at the table immediately mucked as well.
But I learned from that. I never tried to act weak again. But that wasnt the only lesson I learned. I learned I should keep my mouth shut. If that guy hadnt mentioned it, I am certain I wouldnt have realized that my sigh could tip people off to my big hands. I would have went along sighing my way out of action. So Im happy to say, at least I wasnt the only idiot at the table. Thank you kind stranger for improving me.
My First Step Into "The Big Game"
I remember back in my early limit days I was so in awe of these regular players in this 10/20 game. They all were on a first name basis, talked about all the businesses they were in and all of the amazing places theyd played poker at. Some had even played in the world series. Here I was some university student whod finally mustered the courage and money from dinking around in 3/6 games to get a chance to play with the "big boys". I know that sounds ludicrous with games being so abundant now with nosebleeds all over the place. But years ago, before online was really prevalent, that was the game a local small stakes grinder aspired to.
Thinking back now, I was such a fish in that game. I was scared and intimidated. They were all just so good I thought. They all handled the chips so well, cutting them into such nice stacks perfectly for their bets...they stared unblinking at my raises and fired them back right at me. I thought they could read all my thoughts and they probably could at that time. I was so passive, they basically ran me over. It took me a while to lose that feeling of awe...Id like to say it was me getting more comfortable and playing better but it wasnt that. It was seeing the human moments from the other players...the way theyd run ridiculously bad for a session and have to borrow money from a friend. Seeing them rebuy for meager amounts with crumpled up 5 and 10 dollar bills. It made me realize they werent destroying this game and that I wasnt out of my league. And that if I played up to my capabilities and stopped giving them credit for superhuman abilities that I could beat them.
Being Too Observant
Like all young players, I caught the tournament bug. I loved the idea of finishing first...not just winning a few pots...but actually being ranked first in something. There is this one that has always stuck in my head. It was late in the tournament, around the bubble, and I was one off the button putting in a raise to steal the blinds. The button and SB mucked and I watched the BB start looking at his cards. He curled the edge of his hand toward him looking at the bottom card, staring intently...he liked it...then he started to slowly squeeze out the second card. At this point I realized he must have gotten a big first card and was hoping to see another big card. Because who squeezes out the second card, if the first one is crap? If he reraised, Id have to muck my ace ten. He must have liked it, so he shoved and I folded. Later in the tournament I raised again in a similar situation, this time he squeezed his hand, and released. I was certain that he was playing his hand according to the actual value.
Well, later on I would raise the button, he stared intently at his card, carefully pushed the bottom one away to reveal the corner of his second card....and shoved....and got snap called by the big blind. I mucked my medium pair. The guy I had thought I had figured out, had stared at a first card of 3 and had saw a second card of 4...and had raised me. And it would have worked had he not run into aces. I realized that...yes Im watching my opponents...but sometimes, they know Im watching.
Im proud to say the first time I played in a live casino, I immediately fixed a tell of mine. Im embarassed to say that I had the most cliche and ridiculous tell imaginable. It was a 3/6 game and I remember having 88 and flopping quads in a big multiway pot. The action got to me and I thought that I was so smart. I had devised the perfect way to get action for myself. What did I do? I SIGHED! Picked up 3 chips...and bet. I know, I know, Im was an idiot. Why didnt I just flip my hand over and show it to everybody instead. That would have been less humiliating. The guy immediately to my left said something to the effect "Whoa? Sigh? Big hand" and folded. Everybody else at the table immediately mucked as well.
But I learned from that. I never tried to act weak again. But that wasnt the only lesson I learned. I learned I should keep my mouth shut. If that guy hadnt mentioned it, I am certain I wouldnt have realized that my sigh could tip people off to my big hands. I would have went along sighing my way out of action. So Im happy to say, at least I wasnt the only idiot at the table. Thank you kind stranger for improving me.
My First Step Into "The Big Game"
I remember back in my early limit days I was so in awe of these regular players in this 10/20 game. They all were on a first name basis, talked about all the businesses they were in and all of the amazing places theyd played poker at. Some had even played in the world series. Here I was some university student whod finally mustered the courage and money from dinking around in 3/6 games to get a chance to play with the "big boys". I know that sounds ludicrous with games being so abundant now with nosebleeds all over the place. But years ago, before online was really prevalent, that was the game a local small stakes grinder aspired to.
Thinking back now, I was such a fish in that game. I was scared and intimidated. They were all just so good I thought. They all handled the chips so well, cutting them into such nice stacks perfectly for their bets...they stared unblinking at my raises and fired them back right at me. I thought they could read all my thoughts and they probably could at that time. I was so passive, they basically ran me over. It took me a while to lose that feeling of awe...Id like to say it was me getting more comfortable and playing better but it wasnt that. It was seeing the human moments from the other players...the way theyd run ridiculously bad for a session and have to borrow money from a friend. Seeing them rebuy for meager amounts with crumpled up 5 and 10 dollar bills. It made me realize they werent destroying this game and that I wasnt out of my league. And that if I played up to my capabilities and stopped giving them credit for superhuman abilities that I could beat them.
Being Too Observant
Like all young players, I caught the tournament bug. I loved the idea of finishing first...not just winning a few pots...but actually being ranked first in something. There is this one that has always stuck in my head. It was late in the tournament, around the bubble, and I was one off the button putting in a raise to steal the blinds. The button and SB mucked and I watched the BB start looking at his cards. He curled the edge of his hand toward him looking at the bottom card, staring intently...he liked it...then he started to slowly squeeze out the second card. At this point I realized he must have gotten a big first card and was hoping to see another big card. Because who squeezes out the second card, if the first one is crap? If he reraised, Id have to muck my ace ten. He must have liked it, so he shoved and I folded. Later in the tournament I raised again in a similar situation, this time he squeezed his hand, and released. I was certain that he was playing his hand according to the actual value.
Well, later on I would raise the button, he stared intently at his card, carefully pushed the bottom one away to reveal the corner of his second card....and shoved....and got snap called by the big blind. I mucked my medium pair. The guy I had thought I had figured out, had stared at a first card of 3 and had saw a second card of 4...and had raised me. And it would have worked had he not run into aces. I realized that...yes Im watching my opponents...but sometimes, they know Im watching.
Comments
Nice post sir. I was delightfully entertained!
My younger brother likes to say "he brought me into the game". By that he means online poker. And like it or not, the beginnings of my bankroll did come from one fortuitous night at his computer. The story begins with me coming home to find him clicking away at what I thought to be some computer video game poker. But he tells me that its not some game and that hes playing for real money just like we do at the casino. "Bullshit" I thought but sure enough I look at it and hes playing a 50c/$1 limit holdem game on a site (Empire Poker) with a cashier, deposit and withdrawl options that look like an online bank. Im intrigued. So I start watching him. Something though catches my eyes...single table NL tournaments. I prod him to try one and he utters the single non-word that changed my life. "Halfsies?" To which I reply "Hells yes". We get ridiculously lucky...giggling as some fool goes all-in when we have aces. They hold up. We quickly type "LOLOLOLOL" in the chat box. Once again, yes, I was an idiot. We shove it in preflop with 89 over a raise and get called by kings to flop nothing but go running 8s. We high five. More typing in the chat box. Somehow despite being complete retards with no experience at NL STTs, we win. Ship the 40 dollar profit. We play another...finish first. We play another...finish second. We play another...finish first. We play another...finish first. We play another...finish second. The sun has already gone down and is starting to creep up...our voices are hoarse from cheers...our hands pink from all the overzealous high fiving...the chat box has been filled with expletives from our chat box taunts...before we finally decide to quit. This is the easiest money in the world. Why isnt everybody doing this? My cut? $100 which was quickly transferred to my own newly made account. To this day, Ive never had more fun playing poker then giggling and high fiving my little brother that first night playing $10 Sit N Gos.
The Dumbest Dealer Ive Ever Met...Greatest Sense of Humour Ive Ever Met
So Im playing in this game, and a house man strides up to the empty chair beside me and pulls it away. A man rolls up to the table...literally rolls up...hes in a wheelchair. He reaches into his pocket, and plops down a bunch of bills on the table. The dealer looks at him and says "Normally you have to make your first buy-in at the cage...but for YOU...I guess we can make an exception." Without missing a beat the guy in the wheelchair gives the dealer a cold stare and says "Well aint I the lucky one". Dealer quickly looks down and fumbles the chips he tries to pull out of his tray to give to the guy.
A few hands later somebody gets it in with aces preflop...they get cracked. Guy in the wheelchair remarks to the losing player... "Some days, you just cant stand up" Dead silence. I giggle in my head wondering if that makes me a bad person. Wheelchair guy starts laughing hard as one can. Neverous giggle all around.
Later on, somebody goes all in with AK...wheel chair guy calls...with AQ...stares at the cards, throws up his hands and yells "Im crippled!" He laughs again. Nervous laughter all around again. In a conversation I have later on with the guy, he tells me about his wheelchair... "Its just like any bad beat, you should be able to laugh it off". Makes your own poker beats seem small dont it?
Johhny "Fuckin" Chan...Look at that control...Look at that fuck...
Back in 1998 I remember watching Rounders and thinking "God, that guy is the baddest man on the planet". He was just such an icon. I didnt know much about him, and without all of the tv coverage, books and internet forums that are out there today, there wasnt much to find out. All I knew was that he was awesome. My idol.
Flash forward many years later. So were having dinner at this place in the Wynn. My brother points towards the restaurant entrance and my brother and I spy Johnny Chan walking out of the place. I tell him to grab his camera and we go after the guy. We catch up to him right outside the restaurant. "Excuse me Mr. Chan, could I get a picture with you?" "Got a light?" is his reply. At this point I almost wished I was a smoker. I tell him no. He says hell be back in a sec and dissapears into the restaurant. Im excited. A minute ticks by...Im less excited. Another minute ticks by...Did we just get ditched? ...Fuck Johnny Chan...Fuck him. Speak of the devil, he pops out. He slaps his hands together and goes "Alright, lets do this." We go side by side...do i dare put my arm around him? I dont. Hes Johnny Fuckin Chan. My brother snaps the pic. Before the flash clears my eyes Johnny says "Good Luck" and is out the door with his cigarette already lit. My brother moans..."Awwww...I wanted a picture too."
During dinner my brother mentions to me..."Hey, you know how Johnny (We felt we were on a first name basis now) has that orange with him at tournaments and stuff"
"Ya"
"Wasnt it cuz he didnt like the smell of smoke?"
"Ya..."
"Weird..."
"Ya"
Just pure luck. Looking back on it now, its amazing to think how ridiculously hot we ran that one night and how easily it could have gone the other way.
Heh, thanks for the compliment but I dont think I have enough content, notoriety, work ethic, talent for a marketable book. Although I do enjoy writing, my style and attention span would probably be more suited to a magazine article form. Writing for Cardplayer or Bluff would be a dream job.
Im currently reading the Nolan Dalla biography of Stu Ungar...now that man had some content to his life. Great read. Positively Fifth Street by James Mcmanus is also another absolutely brilliant book if you like poker anecdotes.
I am thinking more along the lines of "SCOOP Event winner every hand revealed"
So what's stopping you? I am sure they are always looking for quality writers and I am sure if you proposed something to them they might bite. If you need help sourcing contacts I could probably talk to some people and help if its something you really want to do. Now is the best time to do it as you can try and ride your recent success in the SCOOP.
Thanks graham for the pep talk and the kind offer.
But I guess I was a little incomplete in my answer. It would be a dream job...if I were looking for a job. As of right now, itd be something Id like to do just for the sake of having written something worthy of being in publications that I admire. But not something Im going to actively pursue.
Im hoping someday itll be WSOP or WPT or EPT winner. Its kinda like golf...nobody cares about who won the Mayokoba Golf Classic...its all about the majors. If that happens, Id be more then happy to give a play by play
Can't wait to read it. I hope I am able to write my own book about the samething one day. We can compare notes...lol